Could the Future be NOW?

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Me, modeling the DNA-themed Art Bra I created along with my mother-in-law, at the Bras for a Cause event, Royal Oak Music Theatre, September 18, 2010. The PARP Inhibitor has proven to be particularly effective in BRCA gene carriers like me. Photo by Trish Baden MacDonald.

I’ve got Google Crawler working for me day and night, when I’m working, sleeping, at the infusion center, hoping to catch a ball at a Tiger’s game, making fruit-kabobs for my kid’s kindergarten class.

When GC finds something related to the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 genes, the PARP Inhibitor — or any of the related key words I’ve sent it out into cyberspace to fetch, I get an alert in my e-mail box. I’m particularly excited about the one that came through today.

From the article:
“This drug is a very potent PARP inhibitor. It has already demonstrated very encouraging activity as an IV formulation and now we know that the oral formulation is also active. This potentially opens up many exciting opportunities for long-term treatment for cancer patients,” said Professor Hilary Calvert, Director of Cancer Drug Discovery and Development at University College London, UK, and a pioneer in the field of human cancer therapy with PARP inhibitors. “We know that PARP inhibitors are active in germline BRCA-mutant (gBRCA) tumors, and that this activity extends beyond this group of tumors into broader patient populations in ovarian cancer and may do so in other cancers as well.

“PF-01367338 is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial examining the maximum tolerated dose of oral PF-01367338 that can be combined with intravenous platinum chemotherapy (the kind of chemotherapy that I am on) in the treatment of solid tumors. This program is supplemented by two ongoing trials, currently using the IV formulation: a Phase 1/2 study in gBRCA breast and ovarian cancer and a Phase 2 study in the adjuvant treatment of triple negative breast cancer (the kind of breast cancer that I have). Clovis Oncology intends to replace the IV formulation with the oral formulation in these studies.”

Now, some backstory.

One of the most miraculous phrases my oncologist uses in describing the war on breast cancer and how close we are to the end is her belief that breast cancer is already a long-term manageable disease, much like, in her opinion, diabetes and hypertension.

There are so many different breast cancer treatments out there right now that if one doesn’t work, there’s another go-to drug. And while you are holding the disease at bay with one drug, others are coming online. Not over the course of years, she’s explained to me, but in days, weeks, months. In fact, the PARP Inhibitor that is part of my current treatment — and has demonstrated to be particularly effective in patients who carry one of the breast cancer genes, as I do — only came online 14 months ago!

All of this is amazing news that gives breast cancer patients, even those in Stage 4 like me, a lot of hope that long-term survival — and a good quality of life during that survival — is not a pipe dream, but a reality. My doctor has told me numerous times that while she of course has no crystal ball, she believes I will live for years. We are not looking at a prognosis of just three, six, twelve months left to live. Even at Stage 4.

I’m thrilled that I was offered the opportunity for the PARP Inhibitor to be a part of my chemotherapy regimen, along with Carboplatin and Gemzar. The PARP Inhibitor is currently a Phase 3 clinical trial drug, one that Royal Oak Beaumont worked hard to be able to offer. One I am so very blessed to get.

Right now, the PARP Inhibitor is an IV-drug only; its oral form has not yet been proven safe. During the two out of every three weeks that I receive chemo, I receive a dose of the PARP Inhibitor on both Tuesday and Thursday. But my doc has known all along that its oral equivalent was in the works — and she’s kept me updated.

Today, the article that Google Crawler flagged for me details, among other things, another huge leap in the development of an oral form of the PARP Inhibitor. What makes this so exciting is that it means the future my oncologist sees could soon be upon us.

She told me a few months ago that someday, not too far down the road, patients like me will be going to the pharmacy with an Rx for the oral version of the PARP Inhibitor, and going home with pills to take it as part of our daily meds the way a patient with high blood pressure does now.

Imagine the change in my life, in the lives of other people with breast cancer, when drugs like the PARP prove not only effective, but become available in a pill form. Breast cancer is kept at bay, my life does not revolve around trips to the infusion center and days of nausea and fatigue. We reach yet another milestone in the war against breast cancer — and continue to rachet up the quality-of-life factor.

Even better, it seems there is a whole family of PARP Inhibitors coming online that give new hope for a better future not just for breast cancer patients, but prostate and other cancer patients as well.

I am certainly not a medical doctor by any means, but I keep myself a well-informed layperson. Check out the article. The future could be upon us.

My job is to hang in there — even on days like last Thursday, when I was sobbing as I waited for my ride to chemo, because I simply did not want to go. I did not want the infusion or the sickness that follows, that I already know all too well.

But my job is to go and keep on going, no matter what. To take advantage of the very best science and medicine has to offer while I await the next best. Until someday, my disease is in full remission and I’m able to keep it that way.

As I was walking to the ballpark Tuesday evening with my friend Jodi, I said, “You know, Jodi, even if this was the best we could do, the best we could ever do — two weeks on, one week off — I still have a darned good quality of life in between infusions and I’d take this gladly over the alternative, any day of the week.”

We (the entire world) has come so far in the fight against cancer in the last 20 years. The research is wonderful and very hopeful. It will be great the day you can walk into CVS or Rite-Aid and hand them a script for such an important drug to fight this cancer. Continue to stay focused on that day Amy. It will be here soon. In the meantime live your daily life knowing that many, many peaple around the world are praying for you daily. In the future, breast cancer may be a thing of the past!!!

I dont think your article was quite long enough LOL! I thank you for getting me more informed on this. Doesnt it seem ironic that you only know everything about a disease of any nature if and only if yourself or one of your immediate family has it, and know nothing otherwise?! Thanks for the follow up and as always, my support!

Wow! Very informative and great news lies ahead. It’s odd to say how wonderful it will be to get a pill for chemo but truly for medicine to come that far, it is wonderful for the patients that need it. Sounds like you are on the right track for beating or even managing this awful disease. And so glad you can live every day enjoying the little things in life that make you happy…….family, friends and of course baseball !! 🙂 Have a great weekend! xo